Mayor's race leaves Hub City divided

Jun. 28, 2013

On Monday, municipal officials from across Mississippi will be sworn into office — including Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree.

But it will be up to judge and jury to decide whether DuPree actually serves a fourth term as mayor.

Candidate Dave Ware’s challenge of the mayoral election will head to trial July 23. Ware’s challenge alleged voting irregularities in the June 4 mayoral election that saw DuPree win by 37 votes.

Throughout the past three weeks, Ware has expressed his desire for the election results to have the full confidence of Hattiesburg voters.

“We know that the people are anxious for good results and honest results,” Ware said after filing his challenge Monday. “I think they are equally anxious that at the end of the day the process is transparent.”

On the other side of the ballot, DuPree said he believes the election was “fair” and “honest.”

“I totally disagree with (Ware’s) assertions. They are not right — not proper,” DuPree said. “The intent and the will of the voters was expressed on June 4.”

But with all the controversy that has surrounded this election, we have a hard time believing everything was run exactly as it should have been.

From City Hall and the vault with the ballots being left unlocked to reports of not all the mayoral candidates’ names appearing on ballots, there are too many questions surrounding this election. And you should have questions about it whether you are a DuPree supporter or a Ware backer.

It is difficult to have faith in the results when there are so many questions.

It also makes us wonder if these problems are a regular occurrence in every election. Was it only because this race was so close that any of this is coming to light? We hope that’s not the case, but we do have some doubts.

The saddest part in all of this is that there can be no real winner.

Even when the jury has reached its decision, Hattiesburg remains a divided city.

It could be a tough four years for Hattiesburg’s mayor — whether it’s Ware or DuPree.